Woman killed in 3rd fatal leopard attack in a month in Junnar, red alert in 13 villages

A group of angry villagers and the deceased woman’s family demanded immediate intervention by the state government and staged a protest. After the incident, the forest department deployed a team in response and trap cages were installed.

In light of this being the fourth attack in two months, the forest department issued a red alert in 13 villages within five square kilometer radius. These include Gayamukhwadi, Jambhulpad, Navalewadi, Pimpri Pendhar, Umbraj-1 and 2, Pimpalwadi, Yedgaon, Vaishakhkhede, Chalkawadi, Bhatkalwadi, Nagadwadi, Kandali, Bhorwadi villages. Residents of these villages have been advised to not step out before 9 am and after 5 pm.

On May 8, Rudra Mahesh Fatale (8), whose family was visiting relatives in Kolwadi area of Junnar, was fatally attacked by a leopard around 8 am when he was playing in the open yard in front of the house. The distance between the location of the two incidents is around 11 km. Forest officials were also probing the possibility of the involvement of the same leopard in the two cases.

Forest officials have said that efforts towards awareness and sensitisation of the population are continuously on and various preventive and remedial measures to address this complex issue of man-animal conflict were being undertaken.

On April 11, one and a half year old baby girl Sanskruti Kuelkar was killed in a leopard attack in Shiroli Khurd village in Junnar taluka. The distance between this location and the location of the incident on Friday is around 20 km. Another fatal attack had taken place on March 11.

Officials said that over the last five years, as many as 14 incidents of man-leopard conflict had led to loss of human lives. The three incidents, back to back, the highest in such a short span, have been taken note of senior forest officials and steps were being taken in response, an officer said.

Among key drivers of human leopard encounters during summer months are the changes that forest areas go through during this period, and also the cutting of sugarcane that happens during this period, said forest officials and experts.

One phenomenon observed over the two to three decades is an increase in the area coming under sugarcane cultivation. It has been observed that leopards, which are a very adaptive species, have started using these fields which have thick sugarcane cover, as a habitat.

This provides a safe place for breeding too. During the summer months, sugarcane cutting takes place. The summer months also see an overall decrease in the foliage in the forests leading to depletion of hiding places. Scarcity of both, water and prey base, in the forest leaves leopards with no choice but to travel more to sustain. This also means increased encounters with humans, officials said.

In light of the incident, the forest department has taken the following actions: